This case study shows how Gillette, the shaving brand, adapted to changing consumer preferences for facial hair that had left its clean-shaven brand persona behind, by partnering with a UK charity to advertise its ProGlide Styler product. View Summary

This case study shows how Gillette, the shaving brand, adapted to changing consumer preferences for facial hair that had left its clean-shaven brand persona behind, by partnering with a UK charity to advertise its ProGlide Styler product.

A significant challenge was facing Gillette - the vogue for facial hair, a problem for Gillette's mainstream, clean-cut brand persona.

To launch the ProGlide Styler, a new product perfect for grooming moustaches, Gillette partnered with Movember, who have an established charity moustache campaign and a following of young, trendy men.

Inspired by Gillette's 1950s roots, which research suggested had strong resonance with this new audience, the campaign adopted a distinctive tone of voice juxtaposing old-fashioned speech with modern day slang.

Through a campaign of press, outdoor, radio, and experiential advertising, the ProGlide Styler became the top selling razor on the market across Movember, and helped raise over £20m for men's health.

3

Städel Museum Frankfurt: Frankfurt is building the new Stäedel

Includes video content

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Trends

Best Practice

Cannes Creative Lions, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2013

This campaign aimed to raise €5m in funds from members of the public to build an extension to a museum in Frankfurt, Germany. View Summary

This campaign aimed to raise €5m in funds from members of the public to build an extension to a museum in Frankfurt, Germany. Activity was based on the insight that Frankfurt people are "doers" - active people willing to take the initiative - but they also want others to know about their good deeds. The campaign motto, "Frankfurt is building the new Städel", was used in promotional activity, along with a simple visual symbol: a pair of yellow builder boots. Events played a key role in building support, as did fundraising partners in the private sector. In terms of above-the-line advertising, outdoor was the main media used. The campaign attracted high-profile support from the media, as well as several German celebrities. It raised €5.45m, 8% above target.

This campaign for IKEA, the home furnishings retailer, promoted the opening of a new store in Switzerland and aimed to build awareness and attract as many people to the store as possible within the first few days of trading. View Summary

This campaign for IKEA, the home furnishings retailer, promoted the opening of a new store in Switzerland and aimed to build awareness and attract as many people to the store as possible within the first few days of trading. This was achieved by breaking the mould for retail launch campaigns: it recruited local households to offer their flats as "exhibition spaces" for IKEA products. The tradeoff was that IKEA got extra space to present its homeware ideas and the householders got a free home makeover. Awareness of the campaign was built via print ads; the selected participants were then used in new outdoor, print and radio ads. The makeovers were also covered on local TV. Then the exhibition flats were opened to the public, allowing them to get a sneak preview of the IKEA goods before the store opened. More than 17,000 people visited the opening days of the store, 27% more than expected. The average shopping basket value was also more than double those of previous store openings for IKEA in Switzerland.

The scale and complexity of switching the UK from analogue to all-digital TV presented a huge implementation challenge. View Summary

The scale and complexity of switching the UK from analogue to all-digital TV presented a huge implementation challenge. The fear of blank screens, which could derail the programme, was very real. The UK had to be 100% ready but success depended on providing information, help and reassurance to the last 10% of analogue viewers, many of whom were fearful of change. Working together, Digital UK and the BBC Switchover Help Scheme overcame that challenge by focusing on the people most marketers leave behind: older, disabled and minority audiences. The end result, beyond the large net benefits realised, was to transform a potential negative into a quiet success story. It is estimated the campaign returned £4.60 for every £1 spent.

During its first few years in the UK market, premium readymade dessert brand Gü's desirable image had drawn women in with its luxurious and distinctive chocolate taste. View Summary

During its first few years in the UK market, premium readymade dessert brand Gü's desirable image had drawn women in with its luxurious and distinctive chocolate taste. However, due to increased competition entering the category and the perception that it was aloof, Gü sales began to stall. The challenge was to take Gü off its pedestal and allow women to feel like it was an innocent pudding for any occasion, while maintaining its premium price. Through a perception-changing TV ad supported by Facebook and outdoor posters, sales increased by 24% in one year, generating £6.5m in sales.

In 2011 the UK Census, the decennial survey of the country's entire population, faced the challenge of motivating 25.4 million households to complete and return a 56-question, 32-page census questionnaire. View Summary

In 2011 the UK Census, the decennial survey of the country's entire population, faced the challenge of motivating 25.4 million households to complete and return a 56-question, 32-page census questionnaire.

Since its inception 200 years ago, government enumerators had personally hand delivered and collected questionnaires, but a declining response during the previous Census in 2001 called the model into question.

In the 2011 Census, for the first time, marketing communications took the lead in prompting the majority of responses, allowing enumerators to focus efforts in a more efficient way against non-responders.

Australian mortgage broker Aussie wanted more detail on which online channels were encouraging consumers to convert. View Summary

Australian mortgage broker Aussie wanted more detail on which online channels were encouraging consumers to convert. A customised effectiveness ecosystem turned marketing into a real-time investment platform for the brand by generating a full view of the entire customer path to conversion along with granular ROI reporting. This has changed the way Aussie’s marketing decisions are made and delivered a significant boost to profitability and conversion volumes.

10

Corona Hotel: Save The Beach

Includes video content

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Trends

Best Practice

Cannes Creative Lions, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2012

Corona, a smaller player in the Spanish premium beer market, wanted to create a high-profile platform to strengthen its association with being a beach-side brand, a positioning that competitors could not easily steal. View Summary

Corona, a smaller player in the Spanish premium beer market, wanted to create a high-profile platform to strengthen its association with being a beach-side brand, a positioning that competitors could not easily steal. Save the Beach" was an event-led CSR campaign to raise awareness of the poor condition of many beaches around the world. It centred around the creation of the world’s first real hotel to be made out of garbage, that was taken to Madrid to coincide with a large travel and tourism fair. The resulting PR and media coverage equated to a value of over 3m Euros in Spain and 16m Euros internationally. The campaign is attributed to Corona’s subsequent growth in volume and gaining in share from the market leader.

Subaru's Outback SUV had once been a key model in its line-up but sales in Canada were in long-term decline. View Summary

Subaru's Outback SUV had once been a key model in its line-up but sales in Canada were in long-term decline. Research indicated that most consumers in the segment didn't know much about the Outback, or thought of it as a wagon rather than a small SUV for day-to-day city driving. However, they were open to a new small SUV option that was more 'capable', which played to the advantage of Outback's AWD feature. "The uniquely capable small SUV" became the communications strategy. The campaign's big idea, "Maybe you should get out more", widened the target audience to those who offset a hardworking city lifestyle with outdoor activities. A TV execution humorously adapted an infomercial for the Snuggie (a garmet popular with couch-based TV watchers), backed by print ads featuring Outback drivers in serene landscapes beside "As Not Seen On TV" labels. Additional channels included a GetOutMore website and direct mail featuring a fake TV guide. An aggressive sales target of +59% was exceeded very early in the campaign, with average monthly sales increasing +214%.

Sales for the Aquafresh Kids range of toothpaste have increased by 144% in the UK market over the past four years. View Summary

Sales for the Aquafresh Kids range of toothpaste have increased by 144% in the UK market over the past four years. This success came through an understanding that for mums, getting their kids to brush their teeth and go to bed is a nightmare. Communications aimed to help mum win the Bedtime Battle. So the Nurdles, three lovable characters who helped make brushing fun, were created. Through songs, books, virtual worlds and instore events, Aquafresh permeated kids' culture. The campaign has driven incremental sales of £3.5m with a payback of £1.41, and is now the blueprint for Aquafresh Kids worldwide.

Conventional wisdom had it that smokers needed to be scared into submission, through increasingly terrifying health messages. View Summary

Conventional wisdom had it that smokers needed to be scared into submission, through increasingly terrifying health messages. But this approach was becoming less and less effective. The strategic leap of this campaign by the UK National Health Service's Smokefree campaign was to shift the focus from the physical harm to the smoker, to the emotional upset caused to the smoker's family. This threat was both more motivating and harder to deny. The creative strategy was to simply allow real kids to speak for themselves, to their parents. The media leap was to give these children broadcast opportunities to make their personal appeals, targeting specific channels which they knew their parents would use. It's estimated that the new approach contributed to 1.6 million people making a quit attempt and saved the NHS £74m in the first three years alone.

The Subaru Outback had historically been a key model for Subaru Canada, accounting for 28% of total unit sales back in 2001. View Summary

The Subaru Outback had historically been a key model for Subaru Canada, accounting for 28% of total unit sales back in 2001. Since then, it had been in major decline and no longer relevant to new car buyers who associated it with the fading "wagon" segment. The strategy to revive its fortunes repositioned the Outback as a small and capable SUV, aimed at people with active lifestyles, which informed all creative development and channel planning work. Outback was highlighted as a tool that enabled people to experience the great outdoors. As a result of the campaign, which utilised a wide range of channels, sales in the six months following launch were more than four times higher than the same period the year before.

15

Kirks - Creating Fond Memories For a Brand Most Australians Had Never Heard of

Kirksis a soft drink brand that originated in the Australian state of Queensland and possessed little equity outside of it. View Summary

Kirksis a soft drink brand that originated in the Australian state of Queensland and possessed little equity outside of it. Its positioning focused on the authenticity of its old-fashioned flavours to justify its medium price point. In order to expand its franchise into the wider nation, it conducted consumer research into the 'Aussie way of life', which revealed strong memories of people's childhood activities. The creative brief was therefore to create memories of childhood and a common, shared past. This was brought to life in the nostalgic, retro idea of running a television campaign around a jingle: "Australia quenches its thirst with a 'Kirks'". This led to a 30% increase in volume sales over the 2009/2010 summer and a 4% greater category share.

This paper tells how the Department of Health has taken a novel approach to one of society’s oldest ills. View Summary

This paper tells how the Department of Health has taken a novel approach to one of society’s oldest ills. In particular, how the Department successfully engaged a new ‘routine and manual’ audience – a group of more entrenched and addicted smokers. An improved two-pronged strategy was developed, focusing on the emotional harm to the smoker’s family, and portraying the NHS as a supportive and non-judgemental environment which can help smokers quit more successfully. This halted an alarming decline in motivation and directly stimulated over 3m quit attempts. A new channel strategy was devised, making greater use of direct response techniques and community partnerships and directing quitters towards NHS support services. Over two years, the CRM programme increased quitting success rates among participants by 57%, the payback was increased by 54% and the cost-per-quit was reduced by nearly a third.

This paper deals with the revival of one of Britain’s oldest brands. Hovis had been in trouble since 2006, falling far behind regional upstart Warburton’s. View Summary

This paper deals with the revival of one of Britain’s oldest brands. Hovis had been in trouble since 2006, falling far behind regional upstart Warburton’s. The ‘As Good Today As It’s Ever Been’ campaign leveraged history to prove enduring modern relevance for the brand. Communications included an 122 second TV commercial and a PR onslaught, as well as a host of product-specific communications, which together resulted in the campaign being voted the nation’s ‘Campaign of the Decade’. Sales grew by 14% year-on-year, and the share gap with Warburton’s, which had been projected to reach 20 percentage points, narrowed to only six percentage points. Up to £90m incremental profits were generated, representing a payback of c.£5 to 1.

In a market of anti-ageing products where there were over 160 dermal fillers available, all with relatively low brand awareness, Allergan’s new facial product Juvederm Ultra required a communications solution that differed from the traditional reliance on the B2B channel via medical practitioners. View Summary

In a market of anti-ageing products where there were over 160 dermal fillers available, all with relatively low brand awareness, Allergan’s new facial product Juvederm Ultra required a communications solution that differed from the traditional reliance on the B2B channel via medical practitioners. Allergan used direct-to-consumer communications to change the rules of engagement within the aesthetic beauty market. Television played the primary role in driving awareness, heightening consideration and increasing the levels of consultation. The UK business grew 1.8 times faster than non-direct-to-consumer markets and Juvederm’s UK market share rose by 43%. As a result Juvederm’s turnover increased by 215% year-on-year and delivered a ROI index of 174.

19

Player - The launch of the new name in racing and sports betting

Includes video content

Recommended by Warc editors

Trends

Best Practice

The Communications Council, Silver, Australian Effie Awards, 2010

This case study shows how important a name was to the success of a new betting brand. 303 Perth helped Racing & Wagering WA (RWWA) to launch Player, a new name in Australian racing and sports betting, when they lost a key brand from the business. View Summary

This case study shows how important a name was to the success of a new betting brand. 303 Perth helped Racing & Wagering WA (RWWA) to launch Player, a new name in Australian racing and sports betting, when they lost a key brand from the business. While sports betting accounted for less than 5% of RWWA's business, racing's decline meant that it represented a fundamental part of the future success of the organisation. By involving a diverse group of stakeholders through workshops, surveys and interviews, RWWA identified a niche position to pitch the new brand. 'Player' tapped in to the idea of participation and produced convincing results. One year on the sports betting percentage of RWWA's total turnover increased from 4.7% to 9%.

This paper shows how in a quest to improve efficiency in 2008, Halifax set themselves the challenge of recruiting as many new student current account customers as the previous year, with approximately half the marketing budget. View Summary

This paper shows how in a quest to improve efficiency in 2008, Halifax set themselves the challenge of recruiting as many new student current account customers as the previous year, with approximately half the marketing budget. Starting university is seen as one of the key life events that triggers the need to open a current account and as a result there is strong competition between banks to capture the nation's new students. The strategy involved shifting 80% of media budget online, with the online campaign centred around the notion 'Be smarter with your money' and a film that exaggerated the mad things students do to get through university financially. Digital creative led all other communications from in-branch posters to direct mail. As a result, increased efficiency led to a payback of £2.36 per every £1 spent.

This paper demonstrates the power and effectiveness of advocacy. In 2006, Stanley launched a new product range called Stanley FatMax XL as part of its strategy to win back the affections of professional tradesman after several years of communications inactivity. View Summary

This paper demonstrates the power and effectiveness of advocacy. In 2006, Stanley launched a new product range called Stanley FatMax XL as part of its strategy to win back the affections of professional tradesman after several years of communications inactivity. Without the endorsement of the building sites' top professionals the younger or less confident tradesmen would not reappraise or switch tool usage. The solution was to create an integrated channel plan, with experiential activity, inviting professionals to trial the new product against competitors, at its core. This was supported by free product sample bags, discount 'friend-get-friend' vouchers, online forums and ambient material, advertising and PR activity. The campaign generated £1.69 per every £1 spent.

Knorr faced a challenge when it launched its new Knorr Stock Pot: communications needed to convince a seemingly happy stock cube user to trade-up to the new product while minimising cannibilisation of Knorr's existing range. View Summary

Knorr faced a challenge when it launched its new Knorr Stock Pot: communications needed to convince a seemingly happy stock cube user to trade-up to the new product while minimising cannibilisation of Knorr's existing range. The strategic solution was to show the Knorr Stock Pot not as a premium cube, but as a convenient alternative to stock made from scratch. The creative treated the Knorr Stock Pot in a different way from how standard cubes had been communicated; first the campaign heroed the Stock Pot by treating it as food, rather than an ingredient and then it replaced 'mum' as the ultimate authority on homemade taste with Marco Pierre White, a Michelin starred chef. The campaign generated a ROMI of £1.28 per every £1 spent, and payback of the project's total costs is expected to be achieved three years earlier than expected.

23

Pfizer: How Champix Outsmarted Cigarettes

Includes video content

Recommended by Warc editors

Trends

Best Practice

Direct Marketing Association - US, Silver, ECHO Awards, 2009

Pfizer wanted to launch Champix, a new smoking cessation treatment available only through a doctor's prescription. View Summary

Pfizer wanted to launch Champix, a new smoking cessation treatment available only through a doctor's prescription. Since the vast majority of Australian smokers turned to their pharmacists—not physicians—for assistance, Pfizer designed a multichannel, direct-to-consumer campaign that would redirect smokers to their doctors for advice. Instead of the typical "You Can Do It!" campaign, Pfizer took a "You Can't Do It!" tact, using a character called the Master, a taunting voice aimed at piquing smokers' resentment for being a nicotine addict. Within 12 months, 248,296 prescriptions were filled, meaning that Pfizer had mobilized 7% of the Australian smoking population to try Champix.

24

Dove's Big Ideal - from real curves to growth curves

Includes video content

Recommended by Warc editors

Trends

Best Practice

ARF Ogilvy Awards, International, Silver, Ogilvy Advertising, 2009

This paper tells the story of the ground-breaking Dove `real beauty’ campaign from 2003 to 2007. Dove decided to break not just the rules of its category but also of the wider culture in which we live, realising that a woman’s self esteem is adversely affected by stereotypical images of uniform beauty in the media. View Summary

This paper tells the story of the ground-breaking Dove `real beauty’ campaign from 2003 to 2007. Dove decided to break not just the rules of its category but also of the wider culture in which we live, realising that a woman’s self esteem is adversely affected by stereotypical images of uniform beauty in the media. Women in fact need to feel accepted by society, to belong, to feel a sense of community and sisterhood rather than striving for an out of reach ideal. Thus Dove’s Big Ideal was formed to help make more women feel more beautiful every day. The theory was that if more women felt better about themselves and encouraged to take greater care of themselves every day, it would have a far more positive impact on their self esteem and in turn help rebuild the missing emotional connection with the brand. How the Unilever board was convinced is described. Developing campaigns dealt with different aspects of beauty care, including ageing (2007). Media used: TV, print, posters, online, PR partnership with Oprah Winfrey. Results (USA, UK, Germany): market share increased 33%; in 9 out of 12 campaigns, Dove outperformed competitors in translating communication spend into share of market growth; greater differentiation, and engagement increased 12%; significant impact on brand loyalty and conviction; PR returned $6 per dollar spent; effects on conviction, global sales value and almost a third of estimated brand value. Ogilvy Awards Silver winner.

25

Freixenet - From Minelli to Scorsese

Includes video content

Recommended by Warc editors

Trends

Best Practice

Jay Chiat Strategic Excellence Awards, Non-winning entrant, 2009

From 2006 the total Cava market began to decline for the first time. Freixenet's volume growth was to be challenged so in a move to grow value rather than volume the price of Freixenet was increased by 30%. View Summary

From 2006 the total Cava market began to decline for the first time. Freixenet's volume growth was to be challenged so in a move to grow value rather than volume the price of Freixenet was increased by 30%. At the same time, the brand's heavy use of celebrities in campaigns was beginning to garner a rather low class ostentation. However, which celebrity would be used in each year's Christmas advert had become the topic of debate - the campaigns had become more of a fond act of branded entertainment. Martin Scorsese was recruited to make a short movie about Carta Nevada Reserve. Ahead of release, rumour and debate were provoked to heighten word of mouth, trailers were aired and Scorsese presented the film itself to the press. The movie was seen widely and the volume of sales were maintained at the 30% price increase.